Clever Sustainable Innovations: The Sustainia Award

The Sustainia Award is an annual international award that recognizes a specific technology or project that has the capacity to effect great sustainable change on a large scale. In 2014, the Award pulled in more than 900 submissions from 84 countries and 10 different sectors, including transportation, healthcare and fashion. Here’s a list, courtesy of The Guardian, of a few of the runner-ups.

The food finalist, Netafim, came up with an irrigation design that holds a great deal of promise, especially for small-plot farmers in developing nations. The firm created a gravity-powered irrigation system that’s low-cost and extremely low maintenance. The system uses gravity to drip a very precise amount of water, and this helps to cut back on inefficient watering — a real must in water-scarce regions like Africa.

U.S.-based Advantix claimed the infrastructure finalist spot with its specialized air conditioner. Air conditioners, incredibly, use up to five percent of all the electricity produced in the U.S. However, Advantix’s air conditioning uses saltwater as a coolant, which means that it uses 40 percent less energy than normal systems. Additionally, unlike popular air conditioning coolants, saltwater is non-toxic. We Care Solar in the US developed what they call “The Solar Suitcase.” This highly portable system can provide solar electricity for medical lightning, medical devices or mobile communication systems. The Suitcase can especially come in handy in rural or remote areas. Lastly, Newlight Tech in the U.S. developed carbon-negative plastic for the award’s resource category. In order to manufacture this robust plastic, the firm created a system that can convert greenhouse gases and other pollutants into a plastic-type material of sorts, thus eliminating the need for oil-based plastics.

If you’d like to check out the rest of the list, then head on over to The Guardian to see more sustainable inventions. However, it’s important to note that the Sustania Award highlights the growing global push for sustainability — firms and inventors around the world are actively working hard to make the world a more sustainable place. If you work with a firm or business that’s interested in becoming more sustainable, then consider contacting Good360. We help businesses with excess products partner with nonprofits in need of those specific items. At the end of the day, these businesses have the chance to help a worthy cause, and they also work towards cutting down on their overall waste generation.

Richard Barney, Good360’s EVP of Business Development, is responsible for working closely with corporate partners to create programs that help them do good, better. Richard brings years of business-to-business sales and leadership experience to the nonprofit world and is tasked with ensuring that corporate partners realize a strong ROI from their partnership with Good360.